The Supreme Court on August 4 refused to interfere with the Karnataka High Court order which set aside a stay against Zomato-owned Blinkit for being similar to a trademark called 'Blinkhit'.
The court refused to interfere with the High Court's order as the civil court is currently conducting the trial in the trademark infringement suit.
In 2022, Blinkhit moved a plea in Bengaluru's city civil court alleging that it had obtained the registered trademark back in 2016 under many classes of the trademark act. Classes under trademark signify categorisation of products and services. Blinkhit alleged that it had established its vast reputation and goodwill in the market with trademark and trading style with a unique B device. However, Blinkit, which was previously called 'Grofers' changed its name, infringing their trademark only in 2021.
The city civil court in Bengaluru granted a temporary injunction, restraining Blinkit from using the trademark till the completion of the trial in the matter is completed.
Blinkit appealed against the order at the Karnataka High Court. At the HC, Blinkit argued that even though Blinkhit had registered the trademark it had never used it as a brand name in any of its businesses. The company further argued that Blinkit was visually, structurally, conceptually and phonetically different from Blinkhit.
The Karnataka High Court set aside the trial court's order and directed it to dispose of the suit in one year. Blinkhit challenged this order at the Supreme Court, which was dismissed today.
The order comes at a time when Zomato reported a profit after tax of Rs 2 crore in the June quarter for the first time amid much fanfare on social media.
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